Paint brush and roller cover cleaning appliance



May 5, 1959 M. M. KRUGER PAINT BRUSH AND ROLLER COVER CLEANING APPLIANCE`F1ed April 25, 1957 ATTORNEY United States Patent PAINT BRUSH ANDROLLER COVER CLEANING APPLIANCE Mandell M. Kruger, Detroit, Mich.,assigner to Lew Kruger, Detroit, Mich.

Application April 2S, 1957, Serial No. 665,619 (Filed under Rule 47(b)and 35 U.S."C. 118) Claims. (Cl. 34-58) This invention relates to anovel and inventive paint brush and roller cover cleaning appliance, andmore particularly to an appliance in which the brush or roller cover ismounted longitudinally of the appliance at one end thereof and rotatedby a drive mechanism that is actuated by thrusts along the axis of theappliance at the other end thereof.

lt has long been known that centrifugal force can be employed to extractpaint from paint brushes and paint roller covers. The instant inventioninvolves one type of ydevice or appliance that utilizes such force in amost eflicient and eii'icacious manner. The usual practice is to lirstsoften and dissolve and loosen the paint in the bristles of the brush orin the brous cover of the roller by soaking with a paint solvent. Thebrush is then subjected to a spinning action on its longitudinal axis ata speed so that the bristles are flared outwardly. The spin ning speeddepends on a large number of factors, any one of which may control therate of paint extraction. Therefore, it is not particularly significantthat one factor or another is of importance. The best way known toapplicant is to make a visual examination from time to time of theresults of the spinning of the brush or roller cover.

The device here disclosed employs the `principle of centrifugal spinningin a novel and unique construction which can be produced economicallyand in an arrangement widely acceptable by the painting trade and thegeneral public.

The invention comprises a barrel, a push rod operated at one end of thebarrel to drive a tubular shaft in one direction only, the shaft beingconnected at its opposite end to an adaptor arranged at the end of thebarrel to support a set of fingers for holding either a paint brush or apaint roller cover.

The push rod operates against a freely movable buttery disc that engagesprojections on a collar or wheel mounted at the upper end of the tubularshaft. The adaptor rotates upon movement of the shaft to rotate icedescription below, in which the terms are used for purposes ofdescription and not of limitation. Referring now to the drawing annexedhereto and forming an integral part hereof, and in which the referencenumerals refer to the same parts in the various views:

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of theappliance of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional substantially central view of theappliance shown in Fig. l.

Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sectional views at the lower end of theappliance taken on the lines 3--3 and 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5y and 6 are horizontal sectional views at the upper end of theappliance taken on the lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical view, partially in section, at the upperend of the appliance, showing the drive mechanism.

As shown in the several views of the drawing, in the preferredembodiment of the invention, the paint brush and roller cover cleaningappliance 10 comprises a barrel 12 in which are mounted, at each end,two cups 14 and 14', to receive and contain balls 16, which serve asbearings. At the upper end of the barrel 12 is a cap 18 provided with around opening through which a uniformly twisted driving push rod 22 willeasily pass. Push i rod 22 is provided with a manual grip portion 24 sothat the finger mechanism whereby the paint brush or roller cover isswiftly rotated upon thrusts of the push rod to centrifugally disperseentrapped paint or solvent yfrom the brush or roller cover.

This invention includes improvements over my previously filed UnitedStates patent application, Serial No. 424,587, led April 21, 1954, forPaint Brush and Roller Cleaning Appliance, now Patent No. 2,794,265.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved butterydrive disc that will increase the period of effective use thereof.Another object is to provide a new unitary adaptor that anchors thefinger mechanism to the drive shaft, provides a racefor ball bearings,and firmly anchors the nger gripping mechanism at the end thereof. Stillanother object is the provision of a compact simple and highly effectivedevice to clean paint from brushes or roller covers with a minimum ofeffort and by the use of centrifugal force.

These and other objects o'f the invention and features of constructionwill become clearly apparent from the it can be easily operated, i.e.withdrawn upward and then pushed downward through cap 18. Push rodhandle 24 is provided with a stop flange 25 to limit the forwardmovement of push rod 22.

A butterfly disc 26 is located freely slidable on the twisted portion 27of the push rod 22, under cap 18. The disc 26 is a round metallic discrather than a rectangular piece, or other shape. It has beenY found thata driving member, which acts as a clutch to engage with a driven memberand to disengage therefrom, in a configuration substantially other thanround has tended to jam or lock, albeit momentarily, upon action by thepush rod 22. This will be appreciated when it is understood that theclutch element, represented by the dise 26, is a freely moving part onthe twisted driving portion 27, and that the amount of clearance betweenthe two parts must be such as to provide a free and easy movementbetween them. As use of the device increases, the amount of wear doesalso, and a point is reached when a smooth and easy operation isinterrupted by twisting or cocking of a rectangular or similar clutchelement on the push rod blade 27. This defect is avoided by the designof the `disc 26, here disclosed, which is round in form so that it seatsfreely within the barrel, about its internal periphery, and the dangerof cooking or twisting to interrupt a smooth operation is avoided. Thisdisc is provided with four downwardly projecting nicks or drivingfingers 28 and a central opening 30 through which push rod 22 is freelymovable. Opening 30' is substantially rectangular in shape, conformingclosely, but not exactly to the crosssection of the twisted push rodportion 27. It was found that a sort of butterfly shape was especiallyeffective as the configuration for opening 30. The disc lugs or drivelingers 28 are not uniformly spaced, as shown, but rather are arrangedsothat one pair of lugs, 2828, is less than with respect to the otherpair of lugs 28-28. In this way, only one pair of the disc drivingfingers will engage the driven member or wheel 32, located directlybelow the disc 26, at any one time. In such event, the life or effectiveperiod of use of the butterlly disc is increased at least two-fold, foronly one pair of the rlugs operates at a time. This is more clearlyunderstood when it is observed that the Wheel 32 is provided withupwardly projecting lugs 34 spaced equally, 90 apart, on the peripheraledge thereof to engage with the downwardly disposed lugs or drivingfingers 28--28 or 28-28'.

The driven wheel 32 is provided with a base portion 36y and a hub 38that seats upon the balls 16 as a race therefor, so that upon beingdriven by the push rod 22 through the clutch butterfly `disc 26 thewheel 32 will turn easily and freely in the cup 14 at the top end ofbarrel 12. A tubular drive shaft 40, having an internal bore 42 adaptedto receive the twistedl portion 27 of the push rod 22 in` a sliding fit,is fixedly mountedV at its upper end 44 to the hub 38 of' thev drivenwheel 32 by peening and swaging at the hub 38.

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the lower end 46 of push rod portion 27is provided with a stop pin 48 that limits upward or reverse travel ofthe push rod. This occurs when the push rod 22 is drawn back throughshaft bore 42, butterfly disc bore 30, and cap opening until stop pin 48contacts the buttery disc 26, where the push rod is stopped in itsrearward travel, bringing the disc 26 up against the cap 18.

At the lower end of barrel 12, cup 14 provides an upper raceway forballs 16 which roll upon an adaptor or coupling member 50. As shown inFig. 2, this adaptor isV arranged with an upper portion 52 that isiiared into the tubular shaft 40 by a punch driven down into the taperedhole 54, to fixedly mount the adaptor in the drive shaft. A hub 56 isrotatable in cup 14 and a race 58 for balls 16 seats in the cup, theadaptor terminating with an annular flange 60 and a lower hub 62 havinga blind hole 64 therein.

At the lowermost end of adaptor 50 is the paint brush or roller covergripping mechanism 66, which comprises a unitary pair of outer fingers68--68 of heavy section connected by a web 69, and two unitary pairs ofinner fingers 70-70 connected by a web 71 and 72-72 connected by a web73y 0f substantially lighter section arranged at right angles -to eachother. Each unitary pair of fingers is provided with a bore throughwhich the adaptor hub 62 will pass. When arranged as shown in theseveral views, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the hub 62 is ared out by a punchpassed into blind hole 64 to mount and Iaffix the unitary pairs offingers to adaptor 50, at iiange 60, in a firm and positive manner.

The inner unitary pairs of fingers 70--70 and I2-72 are arranged to seatthe upper tip end 74 of a paint brush handle 76, so that the handle tip74 will rest in the flared out blind hole 64 in alignment with thelongitudinal axis of drive shaft 40, to prevent eccentric spinning ofthe paint brush. y

At the lower ends 78 of the heavier brush handle gripping ngers 68-68,each finger is arranged with an outer groove 80 to seat a coiled annularspring 82 which applies a compressive force to the ngers about the brushhandle 76 so that the fingers will not relax their grip upon the handleat excessively high centrifugal spinning speeds of the paint brush 84.It should be noted that the outer groove 80 in fingers 68-68 is arrangedwith a tapered upper portion so that the coiled spring 82 will rideupward more easily out of the groove and will roll downward to a morepositive stop in the groove. By virtue of this construction, the spring82 can be slipped upward more easily to facilitate release of the paintbrush handle 76. The fingers 68-68 are also provided with inturnedfianges 86-86 to closely grip the lower portion 88 of the brush handle76. The outer fingers 68-68, made preferably of spring metal stockhaving a good tensile strength, is resistant to spreading apart undermost centrifugal spinning speeds. The spring 82 serves as an aid inholding the fingers 68-68 closely about the brush handle 76 and holdingit central in the fingers, when high spinning speeds are developed bythe push rod action. Thus, the spring 82 also serves as a restraineragainst eccentric spinning of the brush, because when the brush handle76 is inserted between the nger portions 86-86, the handle is close toor against the spring 82 which exerts its restricting effect on the sideedges of the handle, holding the brush central in the fingers. The inneredges 90 of inturned finger flanges 86 are bent outwardly to preventmarring of the handle 76 and to permit more facile insertion and removalof the handle.

In addition to holding a paint brush 84, the outer unitary pair offingers 68-*68 are also adapted to hold a cylindrical paint roller cover92, as shown in Fig. l, having an internal bore 94 which grips thefingers 68-68. In such case, spring 82 is removed from grooves 80 on theouter fingers by rolling it back onto barrel 12 to permit more facileinsertion thereof into paint roller cover bore 94, wherein the fingersare slightly compressed by the roller cover to provide a firm grip forcentrifugal spinning. The lower inturned portion of the fingers 68-68,shown at 86-86, are arranged so that the distance across the fingers,i.e. the outside diameter, will be such as to effect a compressive forceupon the bore 94 of roller cover 92. In the event that the bore of aroller cover should be less than the distance across the fingers, thefinger portions 86-86 will meet and be cornpressed by the smaller boreof the roller cover, thereby increasing the gripping force of thefingers 68-68 upon the roller cover 92.

In operation, the appliance 10 is designed to centrifugally spinl paintout of the bristles of paint brush 84 or the paint roller cover 92 whichhave been loosened by soaking and/or spinning in a suitable solvent orcleaning solution. The handle 76 of the brush 84 is then insertedbetween the finger anges 86 and the fingers 70-70 and 72-72 until thetip end 74 of the handle comes to rest in the fiared hole 64 of adaptorhub 62. The handle 76 is then positioned substantially coaXially withthe tubular drive shaft 40. Or the paint roller cover 92 is slipped overthe outer ngers 68-68, after removing coiled spring 82, substantially upto the adaptor flange 60, whereby the roller cover is coaxiallypositioned with respect to the drive shaft 40.

The push rod 22 is then drawn upward until it comes to a stop with pin48 meeting the butterfly disc 26, which is drawn up to the top of cap18. Reversing the stroke, push rod 22 is then pushed downwardly, causingthe butterfly disc lugs or driving fingers 28-28 or 28-28 to come intoengagement with -a pair of the driven wheel lugs 34. As the twistedportion 27 of push rod 22 is advanced, the butterfly disc 26 is drivenaround, causing the wheel 32 to rotate. Since tubular drive shaft 40 isafiiXed at its upper end to wheel 32, and at its lower end to adaptor50, the three pair of fingers mounted on the adaptor hub 62 are alsorotatably driven to centrifugally spin the loosened and softened paintout of the paint brush 84 or the paint roller cover 92. The forwardstroke of push rod 22 comes to a halt when stop fiange 25 meets the cap18 at its opening 20.

The push rod 22 is then drawn upward, as above described, to continuethe cycle of rotative spinning. lt will be noted that upward movement ofthe push rod does not reverse the cycle of rotation, as the butteriiydisc 26 is not in constant engagement with driven wheel 32, but ratheris freely movable and rotatable on the push rod portion 27, the disclugs 28-28 or 28-28 being allowed to slide over the wheel lugs 34 uponthe back stroke of the push rod, so that the disc 26 acts like a clutcheugageable only on the forward stroke of the push rod.

Rapid downward strokes of the push rod 22 cause the paint brush orroller cover to spin at high speeds, or at least at such speeds wherebythey are easily and quickly freed of paint by centrifugal force. Itshould be noted that the paint brush or roller cover may be rotated atprogressively accelerated speeds by an increase in the frequency ofdownward thrusts of the push rod.

The device 16 has been proven by thorough testing and experimentation,and is acknowledged to a valuable tool for both professional and amateurpainters.

Having described the invention in its simplest terms, it is to beunderstood that the features of construction may be varied in greater orlesser degree without departing from the essence of the invention whichis defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and inventive is:

1. In a manually operated paint brush and roller cover cleaningappliance designed to free said brush and said roller cover of paint bycentrifugal spinning, in combination, a manually held barrel, manuallyoperable drive means arranged at the upper end of said barrel, a tubulardrive shaft rotatably driven by said means and coaxially arranged insaid barrel, said drive means comprising a push rod having a uniformlytwisted spiralling blade portion, a circular disc member freely slidableon said blade portion and arranged to be rotated by said blade portionas it is passed through said disc member, said disc member havingdownwardly projecting driving ngers peripherally arranged in pairs atless than right angles to each other, a rotatable driven member fixedlymounted at on end of said drive shaft operatively engageable forrotation by said disc member, said driven member having upwardlyprojecting lugs spaced equally apart about the upper peripheral edge ofsaid driven member and arranged for engagement with less than all ofsaid disc member fingers when said disc member is rotated inonedirection and for slipping contact with said disc member when the latteris rotated in the reverse direction, means adjacent the lower end ofsaid barrel xedly mounted by a coupling member to the other end of saiddrive shaft to compressively hold the handle of a paint brush andalternatively a tubular cylindrical paint roller cover in coaxialalignment with the longitudinal axis of said drive shaft for centrifugalspinning to discharge paint from said brush and alternatively from saidroller cover by centrifugal force.

2. The structure defined in claim l, in which said latter meanscomprises three pairs of web connected resilient parallel lingerslongitudinally extending below said barrel and in coaxial alignmenttherewith and ixedly mounted at their webs to said drive shaft by acoupling member, one of said pairs of fingers being substantially longerthan said other two pairs of fingers and arranged outwardly about thelatter to provide a compressive grip upon the shank of a paint brushhandle and alternatively the bore of a cylindrical paint roller cover,said two pairs of lingers encircled by said outer fingers being arrangedsymmetrically to provide a center for the tip end of said paint brushhandle under compression axially of said appliance, whereby to minimizeeccentric spinning of said paint brush.

3. The structure defined in claim l, in which said latter meanscomprises a pair of web connected resilient ngers longitudinallyextending in parallel relationship to each other below said barrel andxedly connected at said web to said drive shaft by a coupling member,said coupling having a lower terminal hub provided with a blind openingarranged to receive and seat the upper tip end of said brush handle,said hub being arranged to pass through an opening in said web andpeened back to secure said lingers positively on said coupling.

4. In a paint brush and roller cover cleaning mechanism designed to freesaid brush and said roller cover of paint by centrifugal spinning, thatimprovement wherein means to compressively hold the handle of a paintbrush and alternatively a tubular cylindrical paint roller cover forcentrifugal spinning to discharge paint therefrom comprises three pairsof web connected resilient parallel fingers longitudinally extendingfrom and fixedly mounted on a rotatable paint applicator support means,said fingers being arranged in coaxial alignment with said supportmeans, one of said pairs of lingers being substantially longer than saidother two pairs of fingers and arranged outwardly about the latter toprovide a compressive grip for the shank of a paint brush handle andalternatively the bore of a cylindrical paint roller cover, said twopairs of fingers encircled by said outer fingers being arrangedsymmetrically to provide a center for the tip end of said paint brushhandle under compression axially of said mechanism, whereby to minimizeeccentric spinning of said paint brush.

5. In a manually operated appliance for cleaning paint brushes or rollercovers by centrifugal spinning and in which the handle of a paint brushis secured for spinning within gripping fingers at the rotatably drivenend of said appliance, that improvement wherein said appliance isprovided with a coupling member secured to and at the lower end of arotatably driven shaft, gripping and centering means fixedly secured tosaid coupling member comprising three pair of web connected resilientparallel fingers extending longitudinally below said coupling member andin coaxial alignment therewith, said fingers being lixedly mounted attheir webs to said coupling member, one pair of said fingers beingsubstantially longer than the other two pairs of lingers and arrangedoutwardly about the latter so as to provide a compressive grip upon theshank of a paint brush handle inserted therebetween and alternativelyupon the bore of a cylindrical paint roller cover, said two pairs ofrlingers being arranged symmetrically adjacent said coupling member tocenter the tip end of said paint brush handle under compression axiallyof said appliance, whereby to minimize eccentric spinning of said paintbrush.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

